Milwaukee Public Schools’ Brown Street Academy and Lowell Elementary School are among just 100 schools across the nation to win $25,000 grants from Target as part of the retailer’s $5 million Give With Target campaign. Principals of the two schools were surprised with the announcement during an all-principals meeting Friday.

“We’re so pleased with the increasing commitment Target has shown to Milwaukee Public Schools,” MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said.

The grants totaling $2.5 million were given to schools across the nation whose students have high levels of poverty – and have also shown significant academic improvement. Schools can use the funds for anything that will improve student learning.

The other $2.5 million of Target’s Give With Target campaign will be given in the form of gift cards to schools whose supporters vote at http://apps.facebook.com/givewithtarget/. Every 25 votes a school receives by September 8 becomes a $25 gift card. Individual schools can earn up to $10,000 in gift cards. MPS’ Milwaukee German Immersion School is already the top vote-getter in Milwaukee with 431. MPS’ Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School, Fernwood Montessori School and Honey Creek Continuous Progress School are also in the top 10.

Target’s previous commitments to MPS include renovation of three school libraries and a playground renovation as part of the Target: Milwaukee Matters campaign in conjunction with Milwaukee’s Zilber Foundation. The retailer’s Give With Target campaign is part of its broader effort to invest $1 billion in education by 2015.

Brown Street Academy serves students in K4-5th grade at 2029 N. 20th Street, Milwaukee 53205 on the city’s north side. Lowell also serves students K4-5th grade at 4360 S. 20th Street, Milwaukee 53221, on the city’s far south side.

Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving 80,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. U.S. News and World Report named MPS’ Rufus King International School and Ronald Wilson Reagan College Preparatory High School the two best high schools in the state and among the 200 best in the country in 2012. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 17 points higher than the rate for 2000, growing math standardized test scores representing 10-point growth in the last six years and growing ACT scores.